# The strongest possible case against campaign finance reform

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strongest-possible-case-against-campaign-finance-reform/631861>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [August 18, 2012, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strongest-possible-case-against-campaign-finance-reform/631861 "2012-08-18T07:47:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-strongest-possible-case-against-campaign-finance-reform/631861/1 "2012-08-18T07:47:22Z")

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Exhibit A:

Exclusive: White House studying potential oil reserve release

[http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/17/us-usa-oil-reserves-idUSBRE87F13T20120817](http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/17/us-usa-oil-reserves-idUSBRE87F13T20120817)

Exhibit B:

Labor Dept. says no need for warning on layoffs

> **[Labor Dept. says no need for warning on layoffs](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/labor-dept-says-no-warning-layoffs-212433667--finance.html)**
>
> The Labor Department said Monday that federal contractors do not have to warn their employees about potential layoffs from across-the-board budget cuts that could begin on Jan. 2.

Exhibit C:

GAO: Obama administration deliberately delayed Medicare cuts until after 2012 election

> **[GAO: Obama administration deliberately delayed Medicare cuts until after 2012...](https://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2012/07/gao-obama-administration-deliberately-delayed-medicare-cuts-until-after-2012-election-2387233.html)**

Now this isn’t meant to be an argument over the specific policies, so much as a recognition that incumbents can directly influence votes with taxpayer money and the power of their office. A challenger can only use what money he has raised to make the case against an incumbent. What we have here is an administration using all the power at its disposal to create temporarily favorable conditions for November. There’s just no way a challenger can match that. And those “donations” to the President’s campaign wouldn’t count as such under any conceivable campaign finance regulations.